By Constance Athekame
The management of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says there is no 50 per cent increase in electricity tariff.

This was made known by NERC’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr Micheal Faloseyi, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

Faloseyi spoke against the backdrop in some quarters that electricity tariff had been increased by 50 per cent.

He said: “The commission hereby state unequivocally that no approval has been granted for 50 per cent tariff increase in the tariff order for Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) which took effect from January 1, 2021.

“On the contrary, the tariff for customers on Service Bands D and E (customers being served less than an average of 12 hours of supply per day for a period of one month) remains frozen and subsidised in line with the policy direction of the Federal Government.

“In compliance with the Electric Power Sector Reforms Acts (EPRSA) and the nation’s tariff methodology for biannual review, the rates for Service Bands A, B, C, D and E have been adjusted by N2.00 to N4.00 per kWhr to reflect the partial impact of inflation and movement in foreign exchange rates,” he said.

Faloseyi said that the commission remains committed to protecting electricity consumers from failure to deliver on committed service levels under the service-based tariff regime.

According to him, any customer that has been impacted by any rate increase beyond the above provision of the tariff order should report to the commission at customer.complaints@nerc.gov.ng.

By George Odok
The World Bank has supported the Cross River Government with relief material to cushion the effects on the destruction of properties during the #EndSars protest in Calabar on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24, 2020.

The State Commissioner for International Development Cooperation (MIDC), Dr Inyang Asibong, said this after distributing the donated items to the different units in Calabar.

Asibong recalled that after the destruction, the state government through his Ministry had approached the World Bank to render support to the state, especially in the delivery units of the World Bank Assisted Programme COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES).

The items donated include furniture, 20-seater conference chairs, air conditioners and inverters, laptop computers and printers, virtual meeting equipment, hybrid inverter with solar among others.

Asibong lauded the World Bank for the gesture, saying that the distribution was coming at the first day of resumption of duties in the year.

She explained that two result areas of the Ministry, FADAMA and Enterprise Development Funding (EDF) were badly affected during the protest and all the items were destroyed by hoodlums.

According to her, the items will go a long way to enable the staff of the result areas to get back to work in preparation for the CARES programme.

The commissioner said: “The CARES is COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus of the government. It is going to be a state owned project and Gov. Ben Ayade is so committed about improving the lives of residents in the state.

“We know that the poverty index in Nigeria is 40.1 per cent and this is really high. Cross River is lower than the national average, 36.3 per cent, we want to further reduce that our percentage to at least a single digit.

“I want to thank the World Bank for coming to our aid at this point in time and we can assure them we will make the best use of these equipment,” she said.

Mr Fidel Udie, the Acting General Manager of Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA), said that the donation confirmed the good working relationship between the state government and the World Bank.

Udie said that the donation would put the state in a good position to participate in the CARES programme.

“This programme is basically meant to target the poor and vulnerable in the society. Gov. Ayade was able to follow up with the World Bank and here we have these equipment to help the delivery units to be ready for this programme,” he said.

He listed the platforms benefiting from the equipment to include; CSDA, the state coordinating unit, FADAMA, EDF, Smart City, Public Work Fare and the state Cash Transfer Unit.

By: Hamza Suleiman

Sen. Ali Ndume, (APC-Borno) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to establish a Budget Implementation and Impact Assessment office so that he could monitor the releases of funds and performance of his cabinet members.

Ndume, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Nigerian Army, made the call while fielding questions from journalists on Monday, in Maiduguri.

“Buhari is a good leader but quite a number of his cabinet members are not doing enough to reposition the country as enshrined in the President’s Agenda.

“I am impressed with the 2020 national budget performance which stood at about 90 per cent implementation, this feat has never been achieved in the history of Nigeria or by any government in power,” he said.

Ndume said it was unfortunate that the impact of the implemented budget had not been felt in most places, due to poor representation by top political appointees at the federal level.

The senator, therefore, urged the President to reconstitute the Federal Executive Council so as to have an all-inclusive governance at the grassroots.

“Nigerian youths constitute over 60 per cent of the population who are unemployed and frustrated and that is what led to the EndSARS.

“When the President directed the ministers to visit their states to speak to their youths during the EndSARS, some of them could not go because they are not connected with their people.

“The President, in his speech, publicly admitted that they have hurt the youths and that they were right and government is willing to address all their five demands,” he said.

Similarly, he expressed the hope that the President would implement the promises and policies made to the youths so that the country would move forward.

“You can’t be providing and yet the impact is not felt. The problem with the Buhari administration is that the handlers, who are supposed to implement the laudable projects, are either compromising or not doing it appropriately.

“I believe that 2021 will be a turning point in the history of Nigeria, because the problem of leadership normally is either denial, ignore the problem or don’t identify the problem,” he said. (NAN)

By Yakubu Uba

Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno on Monday signed the state N248 billion 2021 budget into law.

Speaking at the ceremony in Government House, Maiduguri, Zulum charged all government ministries, departments and agencies to comply strictly with the provisions of the budget.

The governor expressed appreciation to the state House of Assembly for the speedy passage of the budget.

Zulum said that his administration would continue to place priority on security, education, healthcare, agriculture and the provision of portable water to the people.

Earlier, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdulkarim Lawan said that the budget was  raised from N208billion to N248billion to lay foundation for industrial growth in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zulum had on Dec. 9, presented a budget of N208 billion to the House for approval.

But the lawmakers raised the amount to N248 billion. (NAN)

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sees plenty of downside risks for oil markets in the first half of 2021, Mohammad Barkindo, its Secretary-General said on Sunday.

Barkindo’s remark is coming a day before meeting allies, led by Russia, to discuss output levels for February.

“Amid the hopeful signs, the outlook for the first half of 2021 is very mixed and there are still many downside risks to juggle,’’ he said.

He was speaking at a meeting of experts of OPEC and allies, a group known as OPEC+, according to remarks published by OPEC.

OPEC+ will meet on Monday.

In December, OPEC+ decided to increase production by 0.5 million bpd from January as part of the two million bpd gradual rise this year but some members have questioned the need for a further boost due to spreading coronavirus infections.

“Given fundamentals are weakening, it would be prudent for OPEC+ to hold output steady and there is a preference among some of the biggest producers to hold production flat,’’ said Amrita Sen, co-founder of Energy Aspects think-tank.

OPEC’s leader, Saudi Arabia, has suggested a more cautious approach during previous meetings while OPEC member the United Arab Emirates and non-OPEC Russia have said they prefer a speedier increase.

“Curbs on social and economic activity remain in place in a number of countries, and there is concern about the emergence of a pernicious new strain of the virus,’’ Barkindo remarked.

He said the global economy could strongly rebound in the second half of 2021 but sectors such as travel, tourism, leisure and hospitality could take years to reach pre-virus levels.

OPEC+ was forced to cut production by a record amount in 2020 as global lockdown measures hammered fuel demand.

OPEC+ first cut output by 9.7 million bpd, then eased cuts to 7.7 million and ultimately to 7.2 million from January.

Barkindo said OPEC now expected global oil demand to be led by developing countries and to rise to 95.9 million bpd in 2021, or by 5.9 million bpd from 2020.

This is as the global economy is forecast to grow by 4.4 per cent.

Even though the development of coronavirus vaccines have sparked market optimism, the rise in demand would still fail to bring consumption to pre-pandemic levels of around 100 million bpd.

OPEC’s latest December forecast was lower than the previous forecast of a 6.25 million bpd rise in 2021 because of the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brent oil prices ended 2020 above $50 per barrel – more than a fifth down year-on-year but more than doubling from April’s lows as producers cut output and as the U.S. and the European Union approved trillions in stimulus packages. (Reuters/NAN)